Struck By the Silver Hammer
by madamemoonyblues
Summary: Eleanor Rigby grew up with the Carrigans: silly, giddy Lucy and carefree, trouble-making Max. But Max is always away these days. How far will Eleanor go to make him see her as more than a little sister? Max/OC
1. Punishment

A/N: Ok, so, I don't like the character Emily (Lucy's friend) so I decided to replace her with my own character :D This is my first ATU fic, so be nice. I don't own, don't sue me. I love you all. Seriously, though, I do.

"Ellie!" Anna called from the bottom step outside the school. I sighed and let Lucy's side to see what the nitwit wanted now. If she was going to ask me about factoring one more time I would pound her pretty blond skull -

"MAX!" I stopped short and spun around, trying not to hope too much. A sky blue convertible was parked at the curb, only slightly sideways, and sure enough, Lucy had thrown herself into the arms of her older brother. I waved off a very agitated Anna and nonchalantly made my way towards the car.

Lucy slapped her brother on the arm as he laughed and then, magically, he turned his gaze on me. "Eleanor," he said, giving me a wide grin and a thumbs up. I let a smile play on my lips for a fraction of a second before replacing it with a smirk.

"Maxwell," I returned, looking him up and down. He was still the skinny boy I had grown up with; his hair was a little longer, perhaps he was a little scruffier. Someone cleared their throat and I noticed the dark-haired boy for the first time. "Oh. And friend," I noted, holding out my hand to shake. "I'm Ellie," I said as he gripped my hand briefly without even looking my way. "No one calls me Eleanor anymore," I stated, not for anyone in particular, but the elder Carrigan was the only one capable of responding. Lucy and the stranger were too busy eying one another none too subtly to even notice that I had opened my mouth.

"Well, no one calls me Maxwell, either," Max said, walking to the drivers side of the car, "so I guess we're even." He jerked his thumb at the silent boy, who was now opening the door for Lucy. "If this shit-for-brains hadn't forgotten his manners, you'd know he's Jude." Jude, hearing his name, blushed crimson as he waved an open hand towards the empty back seat.

"Getting in?" he asked, leaning impatiently against the door. I smiled to myself as I noticed his accent before glancing questioningly at Lucy, who nodded. I slid across the back seat to sit behind Max.

"So," I said, after Jude had hopped in next to me and we were on our way to the Carrigan home, "how's Princeton treating you, Max? Or should I say, how are you treating Princeton?" He tossed his head back in laughter, swerving just enough to make his sister squeal. I watched as his hair blew in the wind and longed to play with it.

"Besides a messy frat house and a few golf ball-sized wounds, I'd say I treated it well, thank you very much," he joked, fiddling with the radio, unable to find anything but the latest British band, which was starting to get annoying.

"Well, you're obviously none the worse for wear," I said, ignoring Lucy's surprised giggle. Just because she's taken and can't flirt doesn't mean I'm not going to. Or is she surprised because I've chosen Max, my substitute older brother, over the dark foreign stranger sitting next to me? Either way, it's not any of her business.

However, Max didn't respond to my gentle flirting, and I was on the verge of trying again when Jude piped up beside me. "So Thanksgiving...what's that all about anyway?"

I picked at the cranberry sauce and peas on my plate. The Carrigans should've known by now that I didn't eat turkey, but I was continuously offered slices of it, along with the disgusting brown gravy.

I got so caught up in mashing every singular pea into the design on the Carrigan's holiday china that I didn't notice that a conflict had begun to erupt."No, Uncle Teddy," Max cried mockingly, "who you are defines what you do. Right, Ellie?" He glared earnestly at me across the table.

My eyes widened in panic. What was this argument about? The entire table had their eyes fixed on me, and Teddy, the bastard, was looking more smug by the second. I decided to take a chance. "Well...um...liberty encompasses not only the freedom to do what we want, but the choice to not do things we don't wish to." I crossed my fingers under the table and hoped that my pitiful paraphrase of today's history lesson would fit the situation.

"Exactly," Max said, stuffing a roll into his mouth, "and I don't wish to go back to Princeton." He nodded triumphantly at me and wiped the crumbs from his mouth. "I'm going to take a leak now," he announced, scraping his chair across the floor as he left the table. We sat in silence save for the clink of silverware until Jude politely excused himself, quickly followed by Lucy.

I was helping Mrs. Carrigan wash dishes when Max bounded downstairs. He seized a plate and began to scrub it roughly, telling his mother to go about her business. I asked him a few questions about what he'd been up to and why he was leaving Princeton. Not that it surprised me. Max had always loved school, but only as an outlet for some of his most devious pranks. Our conversation continued until he had dried the last plate and placed it on top of the stack. Without warning, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. "Thank's Eleanor," he whispered, brushing his lips across my forehead, "you're growing up to be just like me."

That stung a little, but I didn't let it show. "That, or paying attention to Sergeant Pepper is finally starting to pay off," I said as he let me go. I stumbled dizzily as he chuckled.

"They still call him that? You know, I started that way back when I was only a -"

"I refuse to let him sit around this house and do nothing. Either he goes back to Princeton or we cut all his spending money!"

I cringed at the sound of Mr. Carrigan's voice, but Max stomped out the back door before he could hear anymore. I peeped out the window to see him interrupt what was clearly a moment between Lucy and Jude. What did she think she was doing? Daniel's barely out the door and already she's carrying on with a limey? Wow. That sounds like something that Lucy would think. I always know when Max has been away too long; his sister starts taking over my brain.

The three of them came back in and Max made a beeline for the coat rack. "Miss Rigby," Max said, grabbing mine and holding it out to me, "would you like to accompany us to the bowling alley?" I took my coat from his hands and through it over my shoulder.

"You needed to ask?"

I sipped my Coke noisily through one of the bowling alley's brown and white striped straws. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose at the horrible choice of color. "You can't think that badly of him already!" I snapped my head up to find Lucy looking appalled.

"I'm sorry, what?" I questioned, having for the second time that night completely tuned out the surrounding chatter. My thoughts fell into three categories: how much I despise bowling shoes, the disappointing scarcity of the cheese on my nachos, and Max."

"Jude!" she said, glancing his way and receiving a small smile before he continued chatting with Max. "I asked you what you thought of him and you made that face...the one you made when Chuck asked you to homecoming."

I grimaced at the memory and Lucy giggled. How many times did that make, just today? "Well, I hate to break your heart, sweetie, but I think he only has eyes for your brother." A wave of confusion swept her face as I calmly pointed behind her, where Max pulled Jude by the hand toward a lane.

"Orgies! It'll be a gas!" Max screamed. Jude doubled over, almost spilling his soda. I raised my eyebrows at Lucy as if to say, "I told you so." She rolled her eyes and picked at her (undoubtedly cheesier) nachos.

"That's stupid," she mumbled around a mouthful of chips. "Who could ever like Max besides you, anyway?" I scoffed but shot another look at him. He and Jude were headed our way, drinks in hand. I noticed that neither of them was using a straw and quickly tossed mine behind my back, hearing a loud protest in return.

"Well, ladies," Max said, leaning down until his elbows rested on our table, "hate to leave you in the lurch like this, but the big boys are going to New York." He bumped Jude, who looked up from his shoes only for a moment. "Pleased to meet you Lucy...and Eleanor," he said, snatching a nacho from her tray.

"Good going, Maxwell, you've got the Brit saying it too!" I cried, punching him in the shoulder. "Besides, I thought you were going to stay a while this time. Your sister is so BORING!" That earned me a scornful look and Lucy huffed off towards the ladies room.

"Sorry, little one," Max said, ruffling my hair, "but you know, you're welcome to come along." He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered me one. I considered it for a minute, made sure Lucy was still out of sight, then accepted. He lit it as he continued speaking. "I don't know, though. New York's a big city for such a little twit like you." A puff of smoke erupted from my mouth, sending him reeling backwards and setting off a coughing fit. "Fine, then, have it your way. Tell Luce I'll call her when we get there."

I sighed as I watched him traipse out the door with Jude skulking behind. He was gone again, just when I thought I had him. I flicked some ashes idly before realizing I'd let them topple into my own nachos. I quickly swapped them with Lucy's and took one last drag from the cigarette before crushing the flame underfoot.

I slurped the last of my Coke as Lucy returned to her chair. "Where'd Jude go?" she asked, before biting into an ash-covered nacho and spluttering.

"Your brother and his lover have gone off to New York where they'll be accepted," I joked as she wiped her tongue on a napkin, peering warily at the remainder of her nachos. "They put their cigarettes out in there before they went," I added, and watched as she angrily dumped them into the garbage can. Lucy might seem nice, but she could hold a grudge like no other, and I knew she'd be furious with him for leaving without saying goodbye. The little white lie about the nachos was only adding insult to injury. I smiled to myself...this was the beginning of a lesson I was ready to teach Maxwell Carrigan: You don't leave me without punishment.


	2. Composed

A/N: hey guys! :S This was a strangely difficult chapter for me to write, so I put it off for a while, but it's still a really quick update :P Thanks so much to my lovely reviewer TakeMeOrLeaveMe2010 (is that right? that's just from memory...). For some reason I have like 3 chapters from the middle of the story written, but I'm having a hard time actually going chronologically, so bear with me while I try to make my mind work in a linear fashion :D **End author note.**

I pulled at a loose thread on the hem of the only black dress I owned. It was too tight at the chest and the waist, and at least two inches too short. It had gotten me several disapproving looks today, but I was less concerned with that than the fact that I smelled sickeningly like moth balls.

I looked over at Lucy lying next to me. It was just like me to be thinking about my clothes when Lucy needed me to say something…say anything, really. But I only smoothed her hair against the pillow, watching her silent tears drip down her face. We'd been lying here for hours, me in silence, her crying unabashedly. I knew she must be reliving her memories over and over…memories of Daniel and the fresher, more painful memories of the day we'd just endured.

"He's really gone," she finally said, licking away a tear that had found its way to her upper lip. I sighed and wished that for once, I could be the kind of person who felt empathy. I hadn't been friends with Daniel; in fact, I hadn't been all that fond of him at all. The only way his absence affected me was the toll it was going to take on Lucy.

I fumbled for something to say to comfort her. Nothing that anyone had already told her was any good. All morning we had heard, "He gave his life for our county," and, "He's in a better place now." There was no comfort in those words for Lucy; they only made her cry more. What did she care about her country, or even Daniel's well-being? Right now she needed to be selfish. How_ dare_ he die and leave her here without him?

"He didn't want to leave you Lucy," I said, pulling her to me. "You deserved him. You weren't done with him…_yet_." I suppressed a hysterical giggle and wondered if my mental health was in trouble. First, I can't bring myself to cry along with my best friend, and now I'm laughing? I must be losing it.

Lucy buried her face in my shoulder and I felt uncomfortable as she gasped and sobbed against me. This wasn't like Lucy at all. She was so composed, so stoic. But suddenly, everything was finally coming out: the grief, the rage, the loneliness. I patted her back awkwardly and wondered what it was like to feel all of these things. As far as emotions went, I felt complacency most regularly, and occasionally got angry. I only ever felt really happy when he came around…

"I'm going to have to come home every day without him. I have to pass his house every afternoon and know he'll never be there again. I have to face his sister," she mumbled, more to herself than me. Neurons fired in my brain and I sat up as quickly as I could, dizzying myself with the sudden movement.

"Let's leave. Let's get away from here." I looked back at her and watched as she rubbed at the streaks the tears had left on her cheeks.

"I can't Ellie. Maybe you could, but…you know I can't. I can't leave school, or mom and dad, and Lizzy and -,"

"But Max! He's there in New York just waiting for us to pop up! You know he'd take us in the second he knew we needed him." Portraits of the details were already being painted in my mind. I could share Max's room, Max's bed even…and maybe that Brit was still hanging around. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I was ashamed of myself. Of course Lucy wouldn't stay with Jude….at least not yet.

"It'd be amazing, Ell, but I just can't. I'll just have to live with it, I guess." She sat up beside me and leaned on my shoulder, still soaked from her tears. "Thanks for helping me make it through my first funeral."

When I left that night, I packed my suitcase, knowing I'd need it. Maybe she wouldn't leave today, or tomorrow even, but one day she would be ready. And on that day, I'd be on my way to the city…to see Max.


End file.
